497 No One is Within

This place was the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, and its sun had always beensomewhat different. In addition, the fact that the sun had grown much dimmerwas not a problem with the sun itself but rather that the space in which itexisted had some problem that was incredibly difficult to describe in words. Being difficult to describe, it was naturally even more difficult tounderstand. Yet for some reason, Chen Changsheng only needed to glance aroundto understand why the Garden of Zhou had transformed into this state. The Garden of Zhou's gradual transformation into a wasteland definitely hadsomething to do with the disaster caused by the shattering of its laws.However, the reason the Garden of Zhou had not been able to repair itself afterthe reestablishment of its laws was that it had been cut off from its originalworld. Yes, the Garden of Zhou was a miniature world, a fragment floating inthe river of space and time, but it by necessity had some connection to thesource world, or else, after the death of Zhou Dufu, it would no longer havecomplied by set rules and appeared in the world. Chen Changsheng knew why the Garden of Zhou had to appear every ten years: itneeded to connect with the source world. Only with running water could there be no decay. Although the Garden of Zhou was vast, if it was truly cut off from the worldand became a stagnant pool of water, then even if this pool of water were asvast as the ocean, it would still eventually turn dead and lifeless. Standing at the peak of the Mausoleum of Zhou, Chen Changsheng looked allaround him and faintly perceived a sort of connection. He judged that with hisarrival, a connection had been reestablished between the Garden of Zhou and thesource world. This situation should change, but it would inevitably be a verylong and slow process. He didn't know if those beings living within this worldcould endure until that day. The monster tide in the sea of grass was no longer as vast as it was in thepast. Although several tens of thousands seemed quite a lot, it seemed verylittle amongst the boundless and vast sea of grass. The tens of thousands of monsters continued their journey towards theMausoleum of Zhou, planning there to welcome the conclusion of their lives. Butin the next moment, they once more felt that Qi, the sense that something waslooking down on them. This time, the feeling did not come from the distant sky,but from the Mausoleum of Zhou up ahead. Moreover, this Qi was much moreintense. Some of the more intelligent monsters could even tell that they hadsmelled this Qi before. The Mountain-toppling Fiend stopped and raised its several-dozen-zhang bodyhigh. It gazed at the distant mausoleum, its bean-like eyes slowly filling upwith a ruthless aura. With a whoosh, the heavily injured Earth Monkey popped up from somewhere.Grabbing onto the Mountain-toppling Fiend's fur, it climbed up to its shoulderlike a flash of lightning relying on only its two hands. Staring at the distantMausoleum of Zhou, it sent out a mournful howl, brimming with anger,resentment, and despair. At the very back of the monster tide, the Monster Bull had its eyes closed.The remnants of its ears shivered in the cold wind. From the howl of the EarthMonkey, it could confirm the origins of that Qi. Its body could barely restrainits shuddering. The mottled surface of its skin, unsightly because it had losttoo many of its arrow hairs, began to send off ripple after ripple. It was likea swamp from which the water had completely evaporated but was still somewhatmoist. In the battle of the Sword Pool, these three great monsters had suffereddevastating wounds. Ultimately, however, they were so incomparably powerful andfierce that by some fluke, they had actually managed to survive that disaster.It was a matter of course that they could recognize that this Qi came from thathuman youth, the main culprit behind the Garden of Zhou's current appearance. To these monsters, the Garden of Zhou was their homeland. They had calmlylived out countless years here, but then it was all disturbed by theserepulsive humans and demons, even forcing them into these desperate straits.The sky had fallen, and the humans and demons had all left, but they still hadto live in this plain. What could they do? The hatred these monsters held towards Chen Changsheng was naturally very easyto understand. However, for some reason, in the next moment, the harsh howls of the EarthMonkey came to a sudden stop. It stared with round eyes at the Mausoleum ofZhou, a profound sense of disbelief appearing in its eyes, soon followed byfear and cowardice. It noiselessly approached the Mountain-toppling Fiend's earand mumbled a few words, then took its half-ruined body and hid it behind thehorn at the crown of the Mountain-toppling Fiend's head, not daring to peek outits head again. The Monster Bull at the back of the monster tide also calmeddown. It slightly tilted its head and then gave out long and low cry. The Mountain-toppling Fiend gazed at the Mausoleum of Zhou. After a moment ofsilence, it kneeled on the ground. Hence, the tens of thousands of monsters all bent their forelegs or loweredtheir heads. Closing their eyes brimming with brutality and exhaustion, theykneeled. This was both acknowledgment of their allegiance and a welcome. Acknowledgmentso that new people could be brought into the Garden of Zhou and welcoming thenew master of the Garden of Zhou. …… …… At some place in the sea of grass, Chen Changsheng looked at the two greatmonsters kneeling before him, not knowing how to respond. Even when kneeling, the Mountain-toppling Fiend was still like a mountain, aswas the Monster Bull. Compared to them, he seemed exceptionally tiny. If he hadnot met the Black Dragon under New North Bridge so many times and been in anidentical position so many times, then even if he was fully aware of thesituation in the Garden of Zhou, he might have already rushed to escape. Backthen when he and she were in the sea of grass, they had encountered manydangers. In the end, they were encircled by the monster tide. Those two…no,three incomparably powerful and abnormally sinister and terrifying monsters hadonce given them countless difficulties. If the Sword Pool had not reappearedbefore the world, then the unity of the souls of Nanke and the youngGolden-winged Great Peng would not have been required. Those three monsterswould have effortlessly slain and eaten them. "I know of the Garden of Zhou's current situation." Chen Changsheng looked at the pair of eyes hidden in the shadow of theMountain-toppling Fiend's horn and knew that they belonged to that mostsinister Earth Monkey. "I can help you resolve a few problems." Hearing this, the Mountain-toppling Fiend kneeled even lower and the MonsterBull made itself even humbler. The dense mass of monsters behind these two wereeven more unbearable. The dragon serpents rolled their bodies around while thedemon vultures gave out sharp and ugly cries. The monsters used every method todisplay their obedience and meekness. In reality, any monster that could live up until now was certainly not a kindone. They were all the most powerful and dangerous monsters. Seeing this sight,Chen Changsheng couldn't help but feel somewhat strange. He took out all the medicines that he usually kept with him and threw thembefore the Mountain-toppling Fiend and Monster Bull. He once more turned tothat pair of eyes in the shadow of the Mountain-toppling Fiend's horn and said,"Let the heavily injured eat first." The pair of eyes seemed to dart around, seeming to think about something. "I didn't bring enough medicine, so you must divide them according to theinstructions I just gave you." He no longer looked at that pair of eyes,instead saying to the Mountain-toppling Fiend, "I have an urgent matter to getto. Tomorrow, I will come in at the same time, but if I discover that someonehasn't listened to my instructions, I will no longer come in." Upon hearing these words, the Mountain-toppling Fiend lightly placed its twothick arms on the ground, indicating that it would do as he said. Its two palmscovered in black fur were opened upwards, seeming just like two black forests. With this action, his horn also reached the ground. Because of the Earth Monkey's ruined body, it could not stand firmly. Itrolled off the Mountain-toppling Fiend, rolling all the way until it landed infront of Chen Changsheng. It was plainly obvious that the Mountain-toppling Fiend had done this onpurpose. The Earth Monkey simply didn't dare to raise its head. It incessantly kissedthe muddy ground before Chen Changsheng's boots, simultaneously weeping andsobbing. All in all, it seemed particularly pitiful. Chen Changsheng knew that it was acting, but he did not care. Shaking hishead, he headed towards the outskirts of the plain. He was keenly aware that none of these monsters was kind. This especiallyloyal and sincere appearance of theirs could not be counted on. In truth, theywere all extremely savage and cruel, but he still wanted to help them. The heavens had the virtue of cherishing life, and he cherished life more thananyone else. He was also not worried about the monsters biting back after being saved andreturning to their former strength. He was the master of the Garden of Zhou,after all. If he did not open the Garden of Zhou, then this miniature worldwould eventually fade away, and no matter how strong the beings within it were,they would only be able to walk the path of death. To say it another way, theGarden of Zhou was currently his ranch and those monsters were his livestock.If the livestock were sick or hungry, it was only right that, as their owner,he be concerned about them. This wasn't even considering monsters like theMonster Bull that already possessed a tentative intelligence. He found itimpossible to regard them as livestock, nor did he wish to see them die. Moreover, to him, the Garden of Zhou possessed a deep significance. He did not wish for the Garden of Zhou to become a land of the dead. He hoped for the Garden of Zhou to continue to live, just like he hoped thatshe continued to live. …… …… The old laws of the Garden of Zhou had already been shattered, and the spatialbarrier around the Plains of the Unsetting Sun had also disappeared. As the new master of the Garden of Zhou, a portion of the new laws of theGarden of Zhou, through some incomprehensible means, entered his mind.Afterwards, he grasped the laws in this portion that he could comprehend withhis current level of cultivation. As his cultivation incessantly improved, thisminiature world would display even more laws to him. From the other way, hiscomprehension of these laws was also extremely helpful in improving hiscultivation. Because of his grasp over these laws, he only needed a briefamount of time to walk out of the Plains of the Unsetting Sun, cross severalmountains, and arrive at that residence at the edge of the Garden of Zhou. This place was the Mountainside Whispering Wood, the garden where most of thehuman cultivators had congregated back then and also the place he had seen theGreat Peng fly her towards. The winding corridors and small pavilions of the past were now shattered wallsand piles of rubble. The place was pervaded by a lifeless atmosphere. No frogscroaked, but the cries of birds could be heard from far away, proof that thisplace was not truly a dead country. But many people had already died in this place. The collapsing cliffs had buried the most beautiful buildings of theMountainside Whispering Wood. Countless monstrous boulders were piled up fromthe depressions of the mountain up to its waist. At this horrifying scene, Chen Changsheng could only remain silent. He was incapable of moving these boulders, but he could clearly sense thatbeneath this collapsed cliff were many dead people. He stood in front of this collapsed cliff for a very long time, then left. Afterwards, he went to the other two gardens but gained nothing. He went to that stream, going upstream towards that cold pool. There was no longer any sword intent in that pool, nor any person. The lake on the other side of the pool was also devoid of people. In thedepths of the lake, he could faintly make out the light emitted by that NightPearl. Chen Changsheng did not remove those treasures, or the silver, or those booksthat had been immersed in water for so many days and yet had not rotted away.He only took a few things that had been wrapped in cloth. There was no one at the lake shore. The sands were still stained withblackened blood. He didn't know which was Qi Jian's and which was Zhexiu's. Then he swam to the depths of the lake, arriving at those small lakes in frontof Sunset Valley. The water in these small lakes had already drained through the cracks in theground to someplace else, leaving only the dry lakebeds behind. Back then, he had burst out of the lake here and been rescued by her. This place also had no people. ……